21st Century Icons in Composites

This publication not only answers that question but also celebrates the achievements of the composites industry in the past 20 years.

There are plenty of iconic examples to be found in architecture, of course, which perhaps reach their zenith in some of the buildings to be found in the richer countries of the Middle East. Other architectural wonders are perhaps less appreciated, such as the latest offshore windfarms.

Each of the 32 turbines installed at the new Burbo Bank Extension offshore from Liverpool in the UK, for example, are taller than London’s Gherkin tower, at 195 metres from sea level to blade tip, employing composite blades that are 80 metres long and weigh 35 tons each. Imagine the attention such an installation would make if it was to suddenly appear in the middle of a city! Meanwhile, the latest wind blades have now reached an astonishing 94 metres in length.

Each successive Formula 1 racing car – from the industry that really pioneered the use of carbon fibre composites – along with the exclusive supercars produced by the likes of Ferarri, McLaren and Lamborgini, automatically assume iconic status. However, the McLaren MP4-12C launched in 2011, was notably one of the first sub-£200,000 road cars to be based on a carbon body.

Pushing the boundaries further, has been BMW, with its i3 and i8 electric hybrid road cars, which saw the setting up of a huge global manufacturing network, including the world’s biggest single-site carbon fibre plant to date. While the design of the i3 is not to everyone’s taste – perhaps Chris Bangle’s fabric-covered Gina of 2001 would win hands-down in terms of pure design – the i3 surely has to be considered iconic, if only for the key role it has played in flying the flag for the composites industry in the automotive mass.

In this context, the Boeing Dreamliner B787 and Airbus A350 XWB planes surely have to be included here, and there can also be no denying the aesthetic appeal in the engineering of the latest LEAP turbofan aircraft engine.

At the very opposite end of the scale are the fascinating and intricate prepreg materials manufactured by North Thin Ply Technologies and employed in, among many other uses, luxury Swiss watches, jewellery and frames for glasses.

The list really is exhaustive. Please do enjoy the examples we suggest, which showcase just how far the composites industry has progressed in recent year.

Adrian Wilson, Editor.

Table of Contents

787 Dreamliner

Airbus H160

Airbus A350 XWB

Apple Campus 2

Arevo 3D-printed bike

Aston Martin Valkyrie

BMW i3

Cevotec Samba

El Capitan guitar

Elytra Filament Pavilion

Exel lighting poles

Felder Felder dress

IMSE technology

Intel Inside

LEAP Engine

LM Wind Blade

LSEV

McLaren Flyback

McLaren MP4-12C

Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower

Medinah Station Concourse Roof

Museum of the Future

Ocean Eagle

Roctool HD Plastics

Russian Orthodox Cathedral Domes

SeaBubbles

Sesto Elemento

Uniti One

Vision of The Fjords

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